


Rule Number 70

by ncruuk



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/F, imported from LJ
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-31
Updated: 2008-10-31
Packaged: 2018-10-16 20:01:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10578486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ncruuk/pseuds/ncruuk
Summary: For the right reason, rule number 12 can be broken...





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might recognise a small section of this chapter as starting life as a much lighter, silly little one shot I wrote called 'Call Waiting' - after I'd written that little ficlet, I realised it had created a few headcanon questions for me to consider around the whole Abby/Kate relationship which I then explored in this fic. WIth a few tweaks, I included the original 'prompt' in the fic you're about to read.

"How'd it go Ducky?" asked Abby, surprising the experienced Medical Examiner, who hadn't realised that the often exuberant forensic scientist was still in the building.

"Good I think Abigail: Commander Coleman seemed satisfied that I had performed to the required standard," reasoned Ducky, moving about the Morgue as he carefully returned all his case notes and files which he'd had to have to hand for giving evidence.

"Wow, some compliment Duck-man!" declared Abby, impressed.  Commander Coleman was an exacting JAG officer, for whom no detail was insignificant, and who, as a result, was perhaps the hardest JAG officer to please - if she was 'satisfied' with Ducky's evidence that was high praise.

"Thank you, I do try..." admitted Ducky bashfully, before turning to once more potter around the Morgue, this time collecting up anything he might need for the scene which Jethro and Kate were waiting at.  In reality, there was nothing he actually needed from a medical standpoint, with Jimmy Palmer already waiting with the van and all their equipment, however...

"Changing neckwear?" asked Abby, canting her head to one side as she watched the medical examiner's nimble fingers undo his red and dark blue striped bow tie, obviously changing it for another one.

"Yes, whilst silk weave looks most impressive in court, I feel that a cotton polyester mix is better suited to a crime scene..." explained Ducky seriously, removing his now undone red and blue tie and beginning to retie a dark blue with a fine white pin-spot pattern into a perfect bow.

"Good call..." agreed Abby, smiling with approval at the finished bow-tie, now sitting smartly in the open neck of Ducky's Medical Examiner coveralls.

"Are you having to wait for the evidence to return tonight?" As he asked the question, Ducky picked up his hat and used it to usher Abby from Autopsy, the lights and doors automatically shutting down and locking behind him, protecting his guests in his absence.

"Gibbs said I could start processing in the morning..." began Abby, allowing herself to be led through the building.

"Would you like me to pass a message to Caitlin?" asked the old man gently, his eyes sparkling with approval, prompting Abby to grin a little sheepishly at being caught out by her good friend and colleague.

"You knew?"

"That you and Caitlin were exploring something? I had an idea..." he admitted before continuing, "...you're not going to wait here for her are you?"

"Yes, no, should I?" Uncertain, Abby shot him a questioning glance - what did he think she should do?

"Do you have a key to her apartment?" asked Ducky carefully, not wishing to rush to assumptions, but having a fairly good idea what would make Kate enjoy the remaining moments of her evening once Gibbs finally let her go home.

"Yes..." Abby paused as she frowned in thought before suddenly breaking out into a big smile as her revised version of their original evening plan was formed, "...thank you Ducky...could you tell her..." Again, Abby paused as she tried to work out what would be an appropriate message for Ducky to pass to Kate, possibly in the presence of Gibbs, only to have her musings interrupted by Ducky,

"I will tell her to go home to her apartment and see you, or words to that effect, depending on how badly behaved Jethro's been, " explained Ducky, bringing another smile to both their faces as they each, independently, arrived at the same mental image of a caffeine deprived Gibbs gradually reducing Kate to an exhausted mass of annoyed tension.

"Thank you Ducky..." declared Abby, suddenly feeling far more optimistic about her evening and, more importantly, Kate's evening now that she had a plan for them.

"My pleasure Abigail...Mr Palmer? Are you ready to depart for our destination?"

"Yes Dr Mallard, I have routed us to stop at a rest stop 3 kilometres from the address Special Agent Gibbs gave me."

"A rest stop?" asked Ducky surprised, waving goodbye to Abby as he walked around the vehicle to get in.

"I thought, on account of our delayed departure, arriving at the scene with a large coffee for Special Agent Gibbs might be prudent."

"A wise decision Mr Palmer, but let us not forget Special Agent Todd..." observed Ducky, approving of his young assistant's forethought, only to hear Abby call out.

"Ducky?"

"What is it Abigail?" Ducky had one leg in the vehicle and really, the sooner he now left, the sooner they would all be back in their respective homes.

"Hot chocolate..."

"Excuse me?"

"Special Agent Todd...hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon sprinkles..."

"Instead of coffee?" asked Jimmy, surprised - he'd thought all of Special Agent Gibbs’ team existed exclusively on coffee.

"Mr Palmer, start the engine..." ordered Ducky, glaring at his assistant who immediately scampered into the driver's seat and did as instructed, "...hot chocolate it is Abigail...now, haven't you an apartment to get to?" he gently urged, his manners not comfortable with leaving Abby standing in the garage as they drove off.

"Yes Boss!" Understanding him perfectly, Abby stood to a rather sloppy attention and tossed a mock salute before waving at Jimmy and heading back inside, already working out what she needed to go shopping for on her way 'home' to Kate's.

"Hot chocolate?" queried Jimmy, looking in confusion at his boss.

"Feel free to remove the parking brake at your earliest convenience Mr Palmer..."

"Yes Doctor, sorry Doctor Mallard..."

 

* * *

 

 

"Court's just finished for the day..." explained Special Agent Gibbs, coming to sit down on the rustic bench that Special Agent Todd was sitting on.

"Ducky's coming?" she asked, not looking up from the sketch she was drawing, Gibbs already knowing, having watched her from a distance whilst he made his phone calls, that whatever she was drawing was from some memory, rather than the view in front of her.

"Just left," confirmed Gibbs, putting his cell phone in his coat pocket and stretching his legs out in front of him.

"So another two hours..." realised Kate, her pencil making soothing sweeping sounds as she carefully shaded something.

"Since it's rush hour..." agreed Gibbs, wishing he had a coffee.  The call for the case had come in only a minute or so after Ducky had taken the stand in a particularly complex murder trial that was a victory for Commander Coleman and the Prosecution so long as the jury could be led through the incredibly complex Medical Examiner's Report.  If they understood what Ducky had found, a serial killer went to Leavenworth: the alternative didn't bear thinking about.

"Sun's setting..." observed Kate, glancing briefly at the horizon before returning to her sketching, the curve of her ball cap and positioning of her body inadvertently providing complete cover for her sketch, meaning Gibbs couldn't see what she was drawing.

"You had an evening date?" asked Gibbs dryly, calculating that, by the time Ducky had got here and released the scene to them (they currently couldn't get through the front door due to the bodies, and the back door and windows were not the sort that either Kate or Gibbs relished trying to break in through), it would probably be around 03:00 before he and Kate could head back to the city.

"In a manner of speaking..." hedged Kate, wondering what the precise description for her evening plans would be.  She wasn't sure she could explain to Gibbs that her evening plans were falling asleep with her girlfriend, with take out and a hot bath optional extras.

"Do I know him?" asked Gibbs suddenly, breaking his rule of never asking about a co-worker's love life out of fear that his agent had finally given into any number of the men he saw on a daily basis trying to pluck up courage to ask the brunette out on a date.

"Does it matter if you do?" Kate had counter-questioned him before actually remembering who she was talking to, or recognising what the only real result of this conversation was going to be.

"If he's going to distract your work I do..."

"Gibbs!" If the tone of Kate's response hadn't been a big clue he'd said the wrong thing, the banging shut of the sketch book was.

"If you don't distract his work he's not interested enough..." reasoned Gibbs, smirking when he saw the light blush appear on the former Secret Service Agent's cheeks as she realised she'd not only been complimented but had misinterpreted the compliment as an insult in her abilities.

"It's not affecting my work..." mumbled Kate, relaxing back into the bench, still clutching the sketch book to her chest, wishing that she wasn't having this conversation, or at least, wishing she wasn't having this conversation on her own, with this particular man, miles from D.C.

"No, it isn't..." agreed Gibbs, feeling in his pockets for something to occupy his hands with, wishing he was by his boat.  As annoying as it was having to wait for hours for Ducky to come and collect his body, Jethro Gibbs was a man of habit, and Ducky always did his autopsies.

"Excuse me?" Surprised, Kate turned to look at her Boss, not daring to predict what the next thing out of his mouth might be.

"Whoever it is...it suits you..." muttered Gibbs, standing up suddenly and striding towards the edge of the small fish pond that was in front of the bench they'd been sitting on, attempting to count the carp that were circling lazily.

"Thank you..." Uncertain what else to say, Kate carefully opened up her sketch book and soon the only sound that could be heard was the gentle noise of pencil on paper as images that only Kate could see gradually emerged on paper, Gibbs soon forgotten, until,

"It suits her as well..." The quiet comment nearly startled Kate out of her skin until she realised he was once again sitting on the bench next to her, this time able to see what she was sketching.

"You knew?" asked Kate, not tearing her eyes from Abby's reassuringly steady gaze that was looking out of the sketch and straight at her.

"That Abby was sleeping better and drinking less Caff-Pow? Yes..." confirmed Gibbs, glancing at his watch, noticing he must have spent almost ninety minutes watching the carp whilst he mused on things.

"Knew that I was..." began Kate, unable to finish her question, not sure exactly what the question was.

"The owner of the bed she slept better in? No..."

"Are you mad?" asked Kate quietly, remembering Gibbs' anger when relationships interfered with people's work.

"Is that how she looks at you?" he asked quietly, contemplating the sketch Kate had nearly finished, of Abby, grinning cheekily as she laid back against her pillow, black hair splayed out across a pillow, a strangly fitting 'gothic' halo.

"Yes..." whispered Kate, partly amazed at how 'human' her Boss was suddenly seeming, before a small voice, sounding remarkably Abby-like reminded her that he had been married four times, which was in itself an indication of a belief in love and romance, even if he wasn't particularly successful at it.

"I'm not mad..."

"Ok then..." Kate hadn't realised how tense she'd become until she felt herself relax on hearing his comment.

"Hurt her and I'm more than mad...." He said it in such a conversational tone, Kate almost missed the meaning.  Later, when she would retell the whole story to an amused Abby, she would realise that she'd just had the sort of conversation her father had always warned her brothers they would have to negotiate with the fathers of their girlfriends.

"You got it Boss...."

"Jethro?" The call caused both agents to spring to their feet.

"Over here Duck...." It was time to return to work.  They had a heap of dead sailors to untangle.

 

* * *

 

 

"Abby?" Wearily, Kate locked her apartment door behind her before hanging up her coat and cap and kicking off her shoes.  The disadvantage of Gibbs dropping her off at her apartment on his way back to Headquarters with the truck was that she was still wearing her NCIS windbreaker and jeans, with the suit she'd worn to work this morning still hanging in her locker and her car in the parking lot; the advantage of Gibbs dropping off at her apartment on his way back to Headquarters was that she actually got home before she had to leave for work again...just.

"Hey..." Hearing Kate's arrival, Abby had headed into the kitchen and put the carton of fresh soup she'd bought on her way home into the microwave to heat up, before emerging in the hallway to greet her lover.

"You cooking?" asked Kate, thinking she could hear the microwave and possibly even the oven going.

"Heating you some soup and bread..." began Abby, passing Kate a full glass of red wine before continuing, "...you need to eat, drink and relax before we go to bed..." she explained practically, encouraging the exhausted Kate to go through and sit on the pile of cushions Abby had assembled on the floor in front of the couch, a plate and spoon set on the coffee table.

"Mmm, thank you..." mumbled Kate, carefully putting her wine glass on the table before collapsing into the cushion pile, catching herself before she leant back too far, searching for the couch to act as a back rest, although she obviously didn't manage to conceal the look of surprise when she realised she was too tired to sit upright unsupported or judge that the couch was about a foot too far back.

"Stay vertical for one more minute...." instructed Abby, before spinning around and heading back to the kitchen to collect the small portion of bread and soup.

"Kay..." muttered Kate, taking another sip of the very nice red wine Abby had given her and trying to muster the energy to marvel at how lucky she was to come home to find Abby awake and concerned about making sure she ate something before crashing...

"You still awake?" asked Abby, coming back in carrying a tray on which was her own wine glass, a small bowl of steaming soup and a piece of warm crusty bread.

"You're spoiling me..."

"Are you enjoying it?" asked Abby, putting down the tray and then placing the bread and soup in front of Kate, before sitting down immediately behind Kate and shuffling up so that Kate now had a backrest to lean against - her lover.

"Yes...thank you..." agreed Kate, breaking off a piece of bread and chewing distractedly.

"Good, now, eat everything so you can have a shower and then we can go to sleep..." instructed Abby, wrapping her arms around Kate's waist, leaving her lover’s arms free to start eating her light dinner.

“My car’s at work…” began Kate, feeling she needed to explain things whilst she ate.

“We’ll ride together…” declared Abby, pre-empting Kate’s protest with a quick kiss to her hair before continuing, “…Tony and McGee are still in Norfolk and you rang me for a ride when Gibbs dumped you here on the way back to Headquarters…but Ducky called and said he wasn’t going to let Gibbs expect you in until after lunchtime so that you get some sleep…” For all her outgoing, ‘conformity be damned’ behaviour, there were some areas of Abby’s life where she was just as private and reserved as Kate – a ‘proper relationship’ (as opposed to casual dates) with anyone, irrespective of gender, was such an area: office gossip could be cruel and stifling for a relationship, and this one felt too good to risk. 

“Tony’s still in Norfolk?”

“Something about sailors being at sea…why does that surprise anyone?” asked Abby reasonably, wondering why so many times Gibbs and his team were surprised or had their enquiries held up by sailors being out at sea – surely it was a reasonable place to expect the Navy to send its personnel?

“It’s the sign of a guilty commander…” began Kate, Abby unable to determine if the pause in Kate’s explanation was due to a yawn or a mouthful of soup – it was actually both.

“Oh, hears you guys are coming and gets rid of the witnesses….bad commander!” taunted Abby, punctuating her remark with a light squeezing of Kate’s waist.

“Something like that…this is good soup…” there was another pause whilst Kate ate another spoonful, “…did I make it?” she asked thoughtfully, not recognising the flavour as one she’d made recently.

“You make soup?”  asked Abby, wondering why she hadn’t thought that, if her girlfriend could bake cookies and muffins and make pasta sauces, she could also perhaps make soups.

“Check the freezer…I didn’t make this then?”

“I bought it…but it came in a carton…” explained Abby, burrowing her face into Kate’s hair in order to press a kiss against what she hoped was neck rather than shirt collar, hoping to distract her normally health food conscious girlfriend away from a debate about canning.

“Thank you Abs…I’d have just collapsed in bed…” admitted Kate quietly, trying not to recall all the nights when she’d dragged herself home from the White House only to not get any further than her couch.  Ironically, whilst her work patterns at NCIS would have suggested more nights on the couch, her couch time had actually been dramatically reduced.

“Bad Kate…” chastised Abby gently, noticing that the soup bowl was now empty, the bread half eaten, “…bedtime…” she declared, giving Kate’s waist a gentle squeeze in warning, before clambering to her feet and holding out her hand for Kate to pull herself up with. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

“It won't work Gibbs, I know you've come to bring me coffee...." Abby didn't need to look up from her screen to know that someone had entered her labs, nor to know who it was. There was only one person who could sneak up on her like that.

"No Abs, I've not..." The disembodied sound of Gibbs' voice coming over the speakerphone made Abby jump, for three reasons, and none of them had to do with the caffeine tablet she'd eaten earlier when the demand for the test results shifted from being needed 'yesterday' to being needed 'before the sucker shot her'.

"You didn't hang up?" asked Abby, forgetting for the moment about what had caused her discovery to instead taunt her boss over the phone.

"You didn't disconnect," countered Gibbs, reasonably, his voice echoing around the nearly deserted lab.

"It's a speakerphone console...it has an automatic shut off, unlike your cell..." began Abby, returning her focus to the screen, willing the results to complete those few seconds quicker, before suddenly exclaiming, "...you wanted to know I was ok?"

"No Abby...just when the results were done..."

"You care Gibbs..."

"Abs...." Before Gibbs could get any further, the computer made an interesting noise, that sounded a lot like Kermit the Frog.

"I reprogrammed the system alerts..." Abby could hear the perplexed frown Gibbs was now wearing, "...the pings and beeps it makes when it's done?"

"And?"

"And now it goes...wait, oh..." Grinning, Abby refocused her attention, scanning the screen, "...yeah, he did it....scumbag!"

"Abby..."

"Sorry Gibbs, yes, Petty Officer Conti's DNA is a match...he caused the body heap."

"Get some sleep Abs..."

"Gibbs?" Greeted by silence, Abby studied the speakerphone, before declaring, "...he hung up on me!"

"Probably best you disconnect anyway..." observed a woman's voice from behind Abby, prompting the lab genius to spin around, her pigtails flying, only to be met with an apparently empty lab.

"Kate?"

"You haven't disconnected yet..." commented Special Agent Caitlin Todd, this time from a different direction, prompting Abby to spin around again, although she did manage to hit the 'off' button on the speaker console as she spun.

"You bring me coffee?" asked Abby, wondering why the former Secret Service Agent was coming down to the labs only to play hide and seek.

"No..."

"Oh?" Abby was once more facing her computer, but no longer looking at it - test results were never as fascinating as the brunette standing in front of her.

"Gibbs sent me home..."

"You're not going with him to find the jerk we now know is Conti?"

"He’s taking Di Nozzo..."

"And you're not mad?" Abby canted her head to one side as she considered how calm Kate seemed about this fact...it should make her at least a little bit mad, losing the final arrest and interrogation on a case she’d worked solidly for days without proper sleep to Tony who’d only returned from his far more restful case in Norfolk that morning.

"He hit Tony three times in five minutes..."

"So you're heading out?"

"No, we're heading out..."

"We?" Even as she questioned, Abby was shutting down her lab - there was something about the way Kate said it, the way she walked as she came around the table that reminded Abby what her lover's first career had been - this was the Kate the free spirited Abby didn't want to argue with...not for any bad reasons, but because she relished in the feeling of loving protection that Kate could wrap her in.

"He wants you to sleep...you've been awake for three days..." explained Kate, stuffing the end of the roll of caffeine tablets in her pocket, determined not to let Abby get at them.

"So have you...not slept properly I mean…" spotted Abby, wondering if Kate would notice that Abby now defined ‘slept properly’ as ‘in a big bed, together.’

"Which is why we're getting out early..."

"Why not Tony?"

"He had a nap on this afternoon..." The completely deadpan delivery brought an even bigger grin to Abby's face as she spotted the flaw in Kate's reasoning.

"You had a nap yesterday..." she identified proudly, turning out the lights and following Kate towards the exit, beginning to recognise her wakefulness was purely a chemical response to adrenaline and caffeine.

"True...but Gibbs caught Tony, not me..."

"Ah..." Satisfied, Abby followed Kate into the elevator, almost missing her lover's next comment,

"That, and Gibbs knows you sleep better in my bed..."

"What happened?" asked Abby, intrigued. Whilst they hadn't discussed telling their Boss about their relationship, they hadn't discussed not telling him either.

"He blinked..."

"He didn’t say anything?"

"Not exactly..." mused Kate, remembering the conversation that seemed like a lifetime ago now, sitting on that bench, waiting for Ducky to arrive.

"Wow..."

"Yeah…”

“What did Tony and McGee say?” asked Abby, curious.

“They didn’t…” muttered Kate, straightening her coat and putting her purse on her shoulder, preparing to exit the elevator.

“You just told Gibbs?” guessed Abby, following Kate out of the elevator.

“I didn’t tell him exactly…he saw me sketching and worked it out.”

“When?” The question wasn’t asked with any accusation or malice, just curiosity.

“When we were waiting for Ducky to arrive…”

”Ducky knows…” explained Abby suddenly.

“I know, he mentioned it to me yesterday …”

“We’re not telling Tony or Tim…” decided Abby, nodding for emphasis, knowing that Kate wouldn’t disagree with her view.

“Is that ok?” asked Kate, smiling good night to the security guard before setting out into the parking lot.

“Only the G-man and Ducky knowing…” pondered Abby, stepping around a puddle, “…I can live with that…”

“So can…” Kate never managed to finish her sentence, her words being consumed in a massive yawn which caused Abby to smile at her affectionately.

“Soup and sleep…” she instructed, holding out her hand for the keys before leading Kate to her car.

“I can live with that…” agreed Kate, following Abby obediently having handed over her keys, revealing to Abby quite how exhausted her lover really was…she would have never volunteered to be a passenger in her own car otherwise!

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"How's it going?" asked Kate, coming around from the back of the NCIS truck to stand with Tony, watching the 'battle' before them.  It had been three weeks since the body pile case, three weeks in which their case load had been, by their standards, light and simple with no all-nighters.  The weeks of 'routine' had found the team needing to cope with more conventional hours and the time to have a social life, something that Kate and Abby had definitely enjoyed although in a perverse way, Kate had missed the tension and adrenalin of the bigger cases...as well as the sleep deprivation.

"I think we've just got to the 'call your superiors' bit..." mused Tony, peering over his sunglasses as his partner before returning his attention to their Boss.

"Nope, ahead of yourself there Tony..." corrected Kate, recognising the body language from their Boss all too clearly, having once been on the receiving end of it herself, "...we're still at the 'I am the Boss' point in this pissing contest..." she sighed, wondering why she rushed to the scene so quickly - if she'd known it was going to take half an hour of male ego stoking before they could get into the scene, she could have stopped for lunch....

"Still arguing I see?" mused Ducky, his arrival a testament to how long this was taking - the Medical Examiner was always the last to arrive.

"Yes...you speed or something Duck?" asked Tony, surprised at the prompt arrival of their colleague...the local police hadn't stonewalled for that long yet, had they?

"Certainly not Agent Di Nozzo..." chastised Ducky, taking his hat off and holding it to his chest in a display of either chivalrous greeting directed at Kate or mock despair directed at Tony, "...we used a satellite navigation system, most impressive too, in fact, the modern computerised version has remarkable parallels...oh my..."

"What?" Bemused, Kate, who had been looking towards the Medical Examiner as he spoke, turned to follow his gaze, which was firmly rooted on Gibbs, who right now was...

"Oh my...shouldn't we do something?" she asked cautiously, not sure how to react to the sight of Leroy Jethro Gibbs grabbing the local Sheriff by his uniform collar and literally shaking him.

"And disturb Jethro's enjoyment? He'd prefer you didn't, but he is causing a bit of a scene..." mused Ducky, studiously turning his back on the crime scene to contemplate the nondescript suburban housing across the street.  He really didn't want to get involved, "...isn't that an impressive Rose Kate? Growing with all those Ferns?" he questioned, knowing that the emphasis on the two words which had combined to be Agent Todd's Secret Service Codename would definitely distract Kate from what she was seeing her Boss do - if Tony wanted to get involved in the chaos Jethro was causing, he was a big boy....

"Duck?" questioned Kate, obediently turning nevertheless.

"Jethro's going to make his point, the Sheriff's men will object, Tony will defend his honour, they both will be sent off by me to cool their tempers...I'd prefer not to drive back to D.C. only to have to return later, it's soup for dinner tonight..."

"I thought your mother couldn't chew..."

"She can't, which is why a meal that is deliberately intended to be served as a puree is such a delightful experience...have you seen what happens when Moules Mariniere are reduced to a compote?"

"With or without the aid of mastication and digestion first?" queried Kate dryly, remembering some fairly unpleasant sights she'd witnessed during her student and later Secret Service days.  Given how many professional kitchens she'd been in, it was a miracle she even liked eating in restaurants anymore....

"Without, but I take your point..." mused Ducky, returning his hat to his head and shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Hey!" The shout from Tony made Kate begin to turn around, only for Ducky's surprisingly strong grip to suddenly take hold just above her elbow,

"Let the boys be, Caitlin..." he cautioned wisely, wincing as he heard the distinctive sound of a physical altercation.

"Ducky?" queried Kate, confused - that had sounded exactly like Gibbs punching someone, hard.

"Second wife's wedding anniversary....Jethro gets a bit tense around strangers..."

"A bit?" questioned Kate sarcastically, feeling it was safe to turn around now, just in time to see a rather smug Tony escorting Gibbs back towards them.

"Kate, process the scene with Ducky..." bellowed Gibbs, at least, that's what they presumed he'd said - the handkerchief pressed against his top lip did make it a little hard to make out.

"The scene's ours?" she asked, already shouldering her kit, knowing that there was no way Gibbs would have been walking away from the line of crime tape if it wasn't.

"Yup...we'll be back..." explained Tony, gesturing to Gibbs, explaining in a single gesture everything Kate and Ducky needed to know - he was taking Gibbs for a march around the neighbourhood until his lip had stopped bleeding and his temper had reduced to a simmer.

"Right..." Smiling, Kate turned to Ducky, hoping her nervousness didn't show.  It was one thing to run a case on your own, quite another to start a case on your own because Gibbs was too angry to enter the scene.

"I think that's called 'taking one for the team'?" questioned Ducky, setting off towards the tape, only to remember his manners and gesture with outstretched arm for Kate to precede him.

"Thank you Ducky, though you didn't need to..." she began, charmed but slightly embarrassed by the Medical Examiner's courtly behaviour.

"Nothing to do with manners Kate, the natives look restless..." he teased, glancing at the crowd of slightly bemused looking local officials.

"And ‘ladies first’ applies because?"

"Because it's superseded by the 'armed federal agents are first on scene' rule..." explained Ducky lightly, reminding Kate that, whilst the body had been spotted and called in, it was still currently an unsecured crime scene as far as NCIS was concerned.  Ducky wasn't crossing the tape until she'd checked things out.

"Of course..." agreed Kate, stopping just before the tape and putting her kit down on the floor once more, before preparing to head into the property to establish that the only thing waiting for Ducky was his latest 'customer'.

"Don't you just wish we could arrive at a scene and be welcomed without argument?" she mused, only semi-seriously, not expecting an answer, but instead smiling at Ducky before slipping under the tape.  As a result, she missed Ducky's quiet reply,

"Every day my dear, every day..."


	2. Chapter 2

Kate's cell phone was ringing...what's more, thought Tony Di Nozzo curiously, it was ringing that particular ring tone, the one that's almost a boring ring-ring...until it isn't.  Glancing around the office, noticing McGee engrossed in writing his report, and Gibbs, well, who knew what Gibbs was doing, but it was holding his attention and keeping his earlier anger still at simmer rather than explode, Tony pushed himself out of his chair and sidled over to his partner's desk, enabling him to contemplate the ringing cell phone, the blue LED flashing with a hypnotic counterpoint rhythm to the ringing.

"Don't touch it Di Nozzo..." called out Kate suddenly, striding back across the office towards her desk, snatching the ringing cell phone from under his nose and, with a ferocious glare at him, snapping open the phone.

"Hey..." The minute she spoke, her face was transformed, with the glare shifting to a radiant smile, whoever Kate was talking to had a far more positive effect on her mood than Tony did.

"Uh huh..." she continued, shooting one final glare at Tony before slipping into her chair and turning her back on Tony - there were some conversations where she didn't want to have with Agent Di Nozzo able to read her every facial expression...it was bad enough that he was sitting on her desk still.  Experience had taught her it would take two hands to shove him off the desk, and that would have to wait until she hung up.

"Sure..."  Leaning back into her chair, she idly twirled a strand of dark hair around her left index finger.

"Miss you too..." She didn't need to be able to see over her shoulder to know Tony was hanging on her every word, waiting for the perfect moment to torment her, which may or may not be the second she hung up.  In fact, she was sure that, if he had the skills to do it (or the guts to order McGee to do it for him), he'd be running a trace on her cell phone right now to see who was calling her....purely out of brotherly amusement, naturally.

"Bye...." The call finished, Kate hung up, resigning herself to the tormenting that was coming.

"So...you miss him?"

"Tony..."

"You miss Dwayne?" repeated Tony, adopting a sing-song voice which communicated everything he thought about the name that had been showing on Kate's cell before she'd answered it.

"Go back to your desk Tony..." began Kate, only for her cell to start ringing again, this time it's more normal, business tone.

"Agent Todd..." responded Kate, snatching up the phone and glaring at Tony.

*Is he still bugging you?*

"Yup...you got something for me Abs?"

*Sure...but you'll have to wait until we get to leave this building for it....but Gibbs can have the bullet analysis if he brings you with him...*

"You got a match?" asked Kate, getting to her feet and waving at Gibbs, who had looked up the second he'd heard the mention of the lab genius’ name.

"We're on our way Abs..." bellowed Gibbs, striding out of the office, Kate trailing after him, Tony having been frozen to his chair by his boss - Kate wasn't the only one who could glare.

"You hear that?" asked Kate, still on the phone to Abby, even as they stepped into the elevator.

*Yeah...the G-Man is coming...* declared Abby, before hanging up.  She didn't need to talk to her lover any more, not when she was seconds away from arriving in person.

"I heard that..." declared Gibbs evenly.

"Heard what?" asked Kate, curious.

"You're missing some guy?" The first time it had happened, Kate had blinked and found her jaw locked with her mouth agape.  Now, she was a little more used to Gibbs playing the role of concerned 'father', only too eager to put her to rights if she hurt his 'daughter', but it still caught her a little by surprise whenever it happened.

"No, Tony thinks I'm missing some guy Gibbs..." It had got easier when Kate had realised she could be a bit more sarcastic and answer Gibbs back when he was in one of these moods, rather than having to treat him like her Boss.

"Dwayne...." growled Gibbs, getting ready to hit the emergency brake if Kate didn't start telling him what was going on...

"...is Abby's latest made up name for my cell Gibbs..." explained Kate patiently, holding up her cell phone in front of his face and hitting the recall button for 'Dwayne', just as they stepped out into Abby's lab.

"Hey Gibbs..." called Abby, not yet seeing Kate, who was a little slow getting out of the elevator, only to dive into the corner of the lab to retrieve her bag and cell phone, which had suddenly started ringing its special 'Kate ring'.

"Hello?" Even as she answered, Abby was turning back towards Gibbs, seeing Kate standing behind him, holding her cell phone to her ear.

"Hello Dwayne..." said Kate clearly, watching as Gibbs looked between the two of them before frowning.

"Uh, Kate?" Abby wasn't following either.

"He was about to shout at me for cheating on you with Dwayne...."

"Oh Gibbs, that's so sweet!" exclaimed Abby, putting her cell phone in her lab coat pocket and trotting over to him, pressing a brief kiss to his cheek before taking an enthusiastic step towards Kate, only for Gibbs to growl,

"Abby...."

"Oh, right..." Smirking, Abby took a step back from a now grinning Kate, before repeating obediently, "...rule 47 - kissing co-workers in moments of case success tolerated; kissing girlfriend waits 'til after Gibbs has had his coffee..."

"Abby..."

"You want your bullet Gibbs?" asked Abby, heading towards her microscope, guessing that the source of his growling was perhaps her procrastination.

"NO!" The short bark of a shout prompted Abby to look at Gibbs, annoyed.

"No shouting Gibbs...what DO you want?"

"To know what's going on with Dwayne..."

"Tony bugs Kate about guys, especially guys who call her on her cell...I programme random names in to wind him up..." explained Abby simply, forgetting for a moment that Gibbs probably hadn't followed anything the minute the explanation shifted remotely technical.

"Abs..."  This time, the growl was more a sigh of resignation, something Kate felt she could cope with dealing with.

"Gibbs, we're messing with Di Nozzo...he knows my cell phone makes two ring sounds, the sound of a call from work or a number I don't have stored, and the sound of a call from my latest 'boyfriend'....he gets a kick out of trying to answer it..."

"And you always kick his butt..." interrupted Abby, giving her lover a big grin, which quickly disappeared at Gibbs' glare.  He needed more coffee for this... "...and don't think you deserve more coffee, you started this conversation!" continued Abby, before doing her best to look like she'd behave, allowing Kate to continue her explanation.

"So Abby puts her private cell number in my phone and keeps changing the name...but it's always Abby Gibbs, when the cell rings like that, it's always Abby..." finished Kate, not entirely sure what was going to be said next, but resisting the urge to pull out her PDA and start frantically inputting something...it was a nervous reflex, she was in Abby's lab, talking about being in love with Abby...she shouldn't be nervous....

There was a long silence before Gibbs spoke again,

"Dwayne's a stupid name..."

"I'm a geek, I don't do good names..." protested Abby, grinning when she recognised that Gibbs had forgiven them and was actually enjoying the joke.

"What about you Kate?" Before Kate could respond, Abby had already interjected.

"Have you heard what the Secret Service think works as codenames?  She's not allowed..." prompting Kate to smile...was it wrong to think her very goth-looking girlfriend looked cute when she pouted like that?

"Harrison's a good name..." mused Gibbs, draining the last of his coffee and striding over to the plasma screen, it was time to start working again, before they caught anymore unsolved cases to worry about, not that he'd mind a couple more – at the rate they had received cases in recent weeks his boat would be ready far too soon for his liking although, given his present company he unsurprisingly decided to keep that particular observation to himself.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"....would you do it?" asked Special Agent Timothy McGee, following Abby into the NCIS main offices, having been sent to get her by Gibbs.

"I don't know..." Abby paused to take a healthy slurp of her Caff-Pow soda before continuing, "...it's not something I have a frame of reference for...."

"Reference for what?" asked Tony, hearing the end of their conversation as they came around the end of his desk.

"That case in the paper this morning..." explained McGee, producing the newspaper from under his arm and, with a frown, checking that he had it folded to the correct article, before passing it to Tony, who quickly scanned it.

"They were blanks..." the agent finally declared, as if that explained everything.

"That's not the point Tony..." protested Abby, sitting in Kate's chair, the only one of the team that could get away with such a bold move.

"What is the point?"

"Officer Morton threw himself between the girl and the gun...would you do it?" asked McGee, taking back the newspaper and studying the article he'd nearly memorised.

"I've been in front of a gun..." observed Tony, looking from McGee to Abby and back again, his chest suddenly expanding as his testosterone fuelled machismo kicked in and he felt the need to sound much bolder and tougher than he actually knew he was.

"A gun drawn on you...." corrected Abby kindly, canting her head to one side, setting one of her pigtails swinging as she considered the middle distance between her and Tony thoughtfully, "...which isn't a cool thing, but to actually throw yourself in front of a gun drawn and being fired on someone else?  That's so..."

"...not a cool thing?" hazarded Tony, with just a hint of a half grin as he said it.

"...a cool thing..." corrected Abby, glaring at Tony, whose smirk immediately dropped like a lead weight from his face, "...but in a really really brave heroically stupid kinda way..." decided the scientist firmly, nodding her head for emphasis, setting both pigtails swinging.

"I don't think I could do it..." muttered McGee finally, frowning in deep thought, after giving the matter some serious thought.

"I don't think it's something you can plan..." pondered Abby, sucking on her straw, not especially concerned if she sucked up Caff-Pow or not.

"...it depends on the situation though..." continued McGee, not hearing Abby's contribution to the conversation.

"I'd like to think I would do it though..." agreed Tony, having realised his two friends were giving the matter some serious thought.

"Would do what Di Nozzo?" asked Gibbs, striding into the office, Kate a few paces behind him, talking on her cell phone to someone.

"What Officer Morton did Boss..." explained McGee, passing the paper to Gibbs to read.

"Brave man..." was Gibbs' only comment, before taking a long drink of his coffee and returning the paper to McGee.

"Would you do it Boss?" asked McGee, long enough in the team to know there were many, many questions you should never ask Agent Gibbs, but new enough to still occasionally try.  To everyone's surprise, it seemed that this was a question Gibbs was prepared to consider, and answer.

"I don't know..." came the answer finally, just as Kate finished her call.  Whilst she knew better than to interrupt the conversation, she recognised the admission of uncertainty as an unusual event, prompting her to start paying close attention to what was said next.

"You've never had to do it?" asked Tony, amazed.  Wasn't his Boss always doing things like that?

"No Di Nozzo..." stated Gibbs, before continuing as if he'd telepathically read Tony's second question, "...I pull people away from bullets."

"Which is very different, but equally heroically cool..." declared Abby, raising her Caff-Pow in tribute to her friend, before continuing, "...but do you think you could?"  To everyone's surprise, it wasn't Gibbs who answered the innocent question.

"If you think about it, you don't do it...."

"What do you mean?" The question was out of Tony's mouth before he'd had time to connect the dots or censor his thoughts.

"If you think about doing it, it's too late," explained Kate quietly, placing her bag by her desk and smiling slightly at Abby, communicating so many things, some private, like 'Hello, I love you' and some more public, like 'No, you can stay in my chair.'

"So you're saying you could do it?" asked Tony, forgetting for a moment everything he knew about Special Agent Caitlin Todd, except that he often let his male ego get the better of him when she was around.  It was as he asked the question that the pieces fell into place for everyone else, with the tone of the room suddenly shifting rapidly, from intellectual curiosity to something colder, stiffer, quieter.  Not looking at anyone in particular, Kate reached to her hip and removed her weapon and holster, methodically checking the weapon and in particular the safety catch, the disengage and engaging of the later sounding loud and harsh in the suddenly too quiet and too warm office, before placing both in her drawer.

"I did it Tony...every morning that's what I get up to do..." It was a quiet admission, said to no one in particular, with no real emotion for it was not a statement which Kate ever felt needed emotion.  As far as she was concerned, it was a fact, a job description.  It was what the Secret Service did...every day, every second.  You pulled on your suit, holstered your gun, turned on your earpiece and microphone and went out there, walking with the protectee, running with the protectee, watching for the bullet...it wasn't something you thought about, wasn't something you debated with yourself, or with others.  It was the ultimate in unasked questions, casting a shadow over everything you did, everything your colleagues did: it was the reason you were there, the reason you were needed...it was your job.  It wasn't something you thought about, something she still didn’t think about… and something she couldn’t stop doing, even now she was no longer paid to protect anyone except the innocent and the victims. 

Picking up Abby's Caff-Pow container and discerning from the lightness of it how empty it was, Kate shot a pointed look, first at Abby for drinking it all, then Gibbs for supplying it (he was the only one who dared risk the wrath of Kate and buy Abby the super-sized ones rather than regular – McGee and Tony just didn’t buy it for her, and Ducky now only bought the smaller sized drinks) before, with a measured, elegant stride, her heels making a soft tapping noise on the carpet, she walked over to the coffee machine and started brewing a coffee for herself. 

As the coffee machine roared into life, the sound had a remarkable effect on the rest of the team, with the silent stillness being almost magically lifted, as if an invisible 'on switch' had been flicked.  Within a split second of him hearing that Kate was otherwise occupied, Gibbs' arm snuck out and delivered a fierce slap.

"Ow!" exclaimed Tony, immediately reaching to rub the back of his head which he felt had been unduly assaulted by his Boss.

"Go and talk to Duck..." was all Gibbs said in response, his gaze cloudy with barely concealed rage at the stupidity of his agent - for all the brilliance he had, did Tony have no tact?

"Yes Boss..." Chastised, Tony grabbed his jacket and started walking slowly towards Kate, realising his error now and intending to say something, only to be cut off by Gibbs' growled,

"Ducky, now Di Nozzo..." which promptly sent the younger agent scurrying towards the morgue.  Satisfied that he'd got rid of his primary trouble-maker, even if it did mean inflicting him on Ducky for no reason other than it got the younger agent away from Kate (there was no way Ducky would be ready for them yet), Gibbs turned to look at his remaining two staff,

"McGee - Kate's got the victim's laptop..." He didn't need to say anything more: his agent understood.

"Got it Sir, uh, I mean Boss...."  It was a sign of McGee's nervousness that he slipped back into his old habit of 'sir-ing' Gibbs - he hadn't done that for months.

"I'll bring it down to the lab McGee...." encouraged Abby, understanding his uncertainty and nervousness about talking to Kate so soon, but also privately seeking any opportunity to talk to the brunette herself before having to retreat to the labs.

"Thanks..." Smiling stiffly, McGee did a near perfect 'about face' before heading off towards the elevator.

"Abs..." began Gibbs, only to be cut off by Abby,

"Labs, scene stuff, do my thing, yes Gibbs, but not for five minutes..."

"Abs..."

"Someone needs to hug her..." was all the somewhat outrageously dressed but tender-hearted goth said, her concern sparked by her personality and friendship with all of the team, but was fuelled by something much more intense and powerful, something that only Kate could cause.

Pausing as he sipped his coffee, Gibbs' looked past his younger friend to consider the stiff backed agent, stoically standing by the coffee table, looking with what he knew would be unseeing eyes, out of the window at something only she could see, something that, despite all his experience and battle scars, he wouldn't be able to begin to imagine.  As Abby had said, it was totally different…

"Ten minutes...use a conference room..." It was gruff, it was Gibbs: it was what was needed.

 

* * *

 

“Kate?” asked Abby quietly, when they were standing together in an empty conference room, Abby having guided Kate there from the coffee machine with nothing louder than a reflected smile in a window pane and two fingertips lightly brushing the small of Kate’s back.

“I’m fine…” responded Kate immediately leaning against the edge of the table before reaching behind her and putting down her coffee.

“Really?” As much as she wanted to accept her lover’s statement and move on, Abby couldn’t believe that something as dramatic as the un-dramatic way in which Kate had just explained the reality of her former job could happen without the need for something, even if that something was just a hug.

“Really…” confirmed Kate, smiling slightly and running her fingertips up Abby’s forehead, threading fingers through the black strands of hair that rested there, before continuing a lazy stroking caress across the top of Abby’s head and down, to rest on the upper edge of the leather studded collar, experienced fingertips starting a familiar caress of soft, warm skin…a warmth that penetrated Kate far more deeply and successfully than the hot, sweet coffee she’d just drunk.  For all her chatterbox tendencies, Abby was incredibly aware of the importance of silence, especially for the woman currently standing in front of her.

“How are you?” asked Kate finally, when she’d finished ordering whatever thoughts she’d been thinking, the caressing of Abby’s neck shifting from exploratory to comforting….Kate, comforting Abby.

“Uh, fine I think…why?” asked Abby, her over-sensitized skin picking up the change in emotion of the caress.

“Because it’s not an easy thing to hear…” explained Kate knowingly, remembering the angry conversations she’d had with friends and family in the past as they tried to understand and comprehend exactly why she did what she had done.

“It’s not an easy thing to say…” added Abby, frowning as she gave Kate’s point serious consideration.

“But I’ve said it before…it’s the first time you’ve heard it…” reasoned Kate, wanting to lean up and kiss the taller woman with all her heart, but being held back by something stronger.

“I…”  Abby stopped, not quite sure what to say, Kate’s observation throwing her completely off track.  She’d intended to bring Kate in here to comfort her, not be comforted – she hadn’t thought she was in need of comforting, until she actually began to think about it, properly.

“Have you done it?” asked Abby in a small voice, one that suggested shyness and curiosity rather than fear.

“Done what?” asked Kate, not wanting to presume what the question meant, this being far too important a conversation to risk confusion over.

“Put yourself between the gun and the target…” clarified Abby finally, deciding that was really what was bothering her – she knew Kate hadn’t been shot, but was now beginning to realise that actually being shot and being in the position to be shot were two split seconds apart and beyond the agent’s control.

“Yes…” agreed Kate, bringing her other hand up to cup Abby’s cheek.

“Could you still do it?”

“It’s not something I can stop Abs…” admitted Kate quietly, reluctant to share the truth with her lover but unable to lie as she remembered all the times they’d had to train, to practice – discover the threat, move your body, draw your weapon – in that order and no other.  Your first priority if you were the closest agent was always to protect the target – the one you were charged to protect: eliminating the threat was someone else’s task.

“Right…”

“What brought this up?” asked Kate, softly, catching what she knew was a silent tear that Abby would never admit to with the pad of her thumb.

“Tony being macho…” admitted Abby, smiling slightly as she recalled the slap Gibbs had delivered to Kate’s partner.

“Before that…” prompted Kate, smiling as she imagined her often annoying partner puffing his chest and cocking a grin as he tried to bluff through something.

“The newspaper…this police officer…between a gun and a kid…” It was a sign as to how upset this had made Abby that her explanation was clipped and precise, devoid of enthusiastic adjective and colloquialism.

“They were blanks…” whispered Kate, stroking away more tears as they ran over Abby’s cheekbones.

“That’s what Tony said…” confirmed Abby, surprised Kate had picked up on that fact, wondering what significance she would attach to it.

“Makes him noble but foolish…” There was no malice or criticism in Kate’s tone, in fact, quite the opposite, with her observation being coloured with a respect that Abby recognised as being entirely genuine.

“And if they hadn’t been?”

“A hero…” whispered Kate, before gathering Abby up into a gentle hug that saw the taller scientist burrowing her face inside the neck of Kate’s shirt and pressing a long, tender kiss to the delicate curve of neck that she found there.  It was a position that they stayed in for quite some time, Kate content to support her lover as Abby gathered her thoughts.

 

* * *

 

 

"Di Nozzo, check the dumpsters..." As much as he didn't want to do it, not in these brand new pants, Special Agent Tony Di Nozzo knew that, when Gibbs used that particular tone of growl, trying to whine and wheedle his way out of whatever he'd just been 'volunteered' for was the quickest way to a head slap.

"Yes Boss..." he agreed, heading back across the sports field towards the dumpsters, although his obedience didn't stop him from raising his voice and calling out to his partner, intending to try and have a little fun at her expense, if only as a way of testing how mad she might still be at him for his earlier comments about the police officer.

"Hey Kate?"

"What is it Tony?" called out Kate, not sure whether to be relieved at the distraction from her painstaking search for any small evidence such as cigarette butts, or annoyed that she'd now probably lost her place in the fingertip search of the long grass that their dead Captain was lying in.  As she waited for Tony to get nearer to where she and Ducky were working, Kate stood up, stretching out her back and taking the opportunity to pull off her NCIS ball cap and attempt to rub away the headache that was beginning to blossom behind her eyeballs...

 

* * *

 

Later, Ducky would remember hearing her suddenly start mumbling to herself in increasingly agitated whispers, her fidgeting and spinning casting bursts of shadow across his otherwise sun-drenched body, making it increasingly difficult to concentrate...Later, Tony would remember charging across the sports field, Gibbs matching his every stride,  their guns drawn, firing in the direction of the main building, not knowing exactly what their target was, just that it was a target...but that wouldn't be until after they'd all vomited when they individually remembered the sight of Special Agent Caitlin Todd throwing her body through the air after the summer's afternoon was pierced with her anguished cry of,

"GUN!"

a millisecond before they all heard the sound of gunshots and saw the spray of blood.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"How is she Doctor?" asked Special Agent Jethro Gibbs hoarsely, slowly forcing himself onto weary feet when he saw the scrub-clad surgeon approaching them.

"I, uh..." startled to find the corridor full of the clutch of armed federal agents, having just been expecting immediate family, the surgeon stumbled as he reached into the file he was holding, searching for a name, "...A. Sciuto?" he asked, pinching strained eyes in an attempt to inject some alertness into them. 

"Me..." breathed the exhausted, tear-streaked young woman sitting next to the older looking gentleman wearing a bow tie, looking up at the surgeon and understanding his question without him asking it.

"You can tell them all...they're her..." Abby paused as she tried to think of the right way to describe the assorted collection of exhausted yet determined men helping to maintain the vigil, "...guys..." she finally decided, seeing differing shades of loving devotion in all their eyes, just as it was burning brightly in her own.

"Ok, well, Agent Todd suffered a..." As the surgeon began his explanation, Abby felt herself slipping away from the conversation, the technical jargon and phrasing which was so familiar to her from her time in the labs now sounding like some never-before-heard foreign language.

"...Abs?" It was only the combination of the firm pressure on her shoulder and the sound of Gibbs calling her name softly that brought her out of her daze, revealing a deserted corridor, except for McGee and Gibbs.

"Where's Ducky?" she asked quietly, remembering the gentle ME holding her hand for hours, talking about everything and nothing, keeping her, she would later realise, just below an all out panic attack with just the sound of his soothing voice and an apparently bottomless mine of trivia.

"Checking Kate out...the doctors let him in to recovery..." explained Gibbs, passing her a bottle of water which she drank meekly.  It was the first time McGee had seen her drink something that wasn't caffeinated without putting up a protest of some sort, such was her deflated exhaustion.

"Kate, she's...." Abby couldn't bring herself to say it, to question it....but she had to be, right? It was Kate, her Kate...she couldn't be....wasn't allowed to be...had to be...

"Alive and going to be sketching again soon..." explained Ducky, coming up to his friends pulling off the surgical gown he'd been given whilst, as a professional courtesy, the surgeon had taken the experienced Medical Examiner into Recovery to consider their patient first hand.

"She's alive..." breathed Abby uncertainly, tasting the words to see if they felt right.

"She's alive..." she repeated, feeling more confident as she sought out Ducky's eyes and saw the truth in them - he wasn't lying, couldn't lie...

"She's alive!" squealed Abby, jumping to her feet with new found energy and beginning to jump up and down, her relief at finally knowing that her lover was beating this latest obstacle translating into a hyperactive rush that, if Gibbs hadn't known better, could easily have assumed was the result of one too many 'Caff-Pows'... as back handed compliments went, it was one best not shared with anyone, least of all Abby, though he had a suspicion that Kate would be interested to hear it at some point......like when she retired after a long and injury free career.  To the independent observer, they probably made an interesting sight - a goth jumping up and down and squealing, to a jangling accompaniment from her clothing and the heavy thumping of Special Agent Timothy McGee's feet, who was jumping with her, having been caught up in an enthusiastic hug after the third bounce.

“Do you want to go and see her Abby?” asked Ducky kindly, finally placing a calming hand on her shoulder when the bouncing stopped.

“Yes…no…restroom…” stumbled Abby, casting a nervous glance at herself before heading down the corridor at quite an impressive speed, only to stop and sprint back to the group, pressing a folded piece of heavy artist’s paper into McGee’s hand,

“Protect this…” before rushing off again, eager to wash her face clean of all the tears and gunk she was now feeling caking her skin before she saw Kate.

“What is it McGee?” asked Tony, having arrived during the ‘bouncing’ and wisely, for once in his life, just watching and listening.

“I, uh, don’t know…but she’s been holding it all the time…” explained McGee, suddenly looking at the paper he was holding as if it were some sort of primed ordinance which only needed to be disturbed in order to go bang.

“It’s sketch paper…” noticed Tony, peering at the folded square intently, before recognising something, “…it’s a page from Kate’s sketch book…” he continued, before deftly plucking it from McGee’s hands and beginning to unfold it, only to be suddenly smacked, very hard, on the back on the head.

“Boss!” he exclaimed, momentarily distracted from the paper he’d been unfolding.

“Wasn’t me Di Nozzo…” observed Gibbs reasonably, given that he was standing a good three paces in front of Tony, drinking his coffee.

“It was me you juvenile idiot…” muttered Ducky angrily, pulling the paper from Tony’s fingers and carefully putting it away in his inside jacket pocket, “…have you no respect for anyone’s privacy?” he continued, shooting a glare at Tony which, whilst not as ferocious as Gibbs’, was all the more effective because it was such a rare sight.

“Uh, but it’s…”

“…something Abby asked me to protect Di Nozzo…” reasoned Tim McGee, suddenly deciding that he could join in this conversation, only for it to be abruptly terminated by Gibbs.

“DI NOZZO!” he called, mildly amused to see McGee and Di Nozzo both jump as they turned to look at him.

“Yes Boss?” asked Tony, not sure what was going on with Ducky and McGee, but suddenly glad to have a legitimate way out of that conversation.

“You make any progress on ID-ing the victim?” asked Gibb shortly, having sent Tony out to ring NCIS Headquarters to get an update on the progress that their colleagues had managed to make on their case whilst they waited for news on Kate.

“Yes Boss, Captain Kevin Landson, stationed at the Pentagon…”

“Anything else?” barked Gibbs, not expecting that, when he’d sent Di Nozzo to ring in for an ID, that that would be all he’d get.

“No Boss…”

“Nothing?”

“Until the labs or autopsy…” began Tony, before trailing off, hoping Gibbs understood.

“I’ll see Captain Landson tomorrow morning Jethro…” volunteered Ducky quietly, knowing that he wasn’t in an appropriate frame of mind to deal with him today before noticing Abby coming back down the corridor,

“I have your paper Abigail…” he called out gently, patting his jacket carefully, letting her know it was safe.

“Thanks Ducky…” Despite the smile that Abby offered to the experienced doctor, he could see that it was an effort for the normally enthusiastic scientist, the worry and concern they’d all shared for their friend and colleague in the last few hours being particularly hard on Abby.

“Do you want me to take you to her?” he asked kindly, offering her an arm.

“Please…” she agreed, accepting the proffered arm, tucking her fingers just inside his elbow, ignoring the rest of her friends, her brain now focussing on just one thing – seeing Kate.

“You want your paper back?” he asked politely as they began to move

“No thank you…I’ve got the real thing to kiss…” decided Abby, smiling hopefully, before pushing through the doors with the Medical Examiner, leaving Gibbs to deal with their dazed colleagues.

“Kiss?” asked Tim, not sure he’d heard her right.

“That’s what she said Probie…” confirmed Tony, before the true meaning of the words suddenly penetrated his brain, “…kiss…”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Hello?” Tentatively, Abby hovered on the threshold of the hospital room, taking in the softly illuminated bed.

“Abs…” The answering call was quiet, barely more than a whisper, but it was enough.  Suddenly, Abby was no longer by Ducky’s side, using his arm as an anchor – instead, she was standing next to the bed, fingers hovering above the pale face of her lover, eager to touch, to caress, to love: nervous to touch, to hurt, to bruise…

“I’m ok…” came the cracked whisper, foggy eyes parting long enough to focus, long enough to sparkle just enough to reassure Abby, to encourage her closer.

“You’re in a hospital bed, with needles and drips…”

“Kiss…” Kate wasn’t going to let on to Abby how much effort it was taking to fight through the drugs long enough to stay awake – even as she formed the thought she felt her sleepiness accumulating, drawing her back into unconsciousness – the last time she’d drifted off there her last memory had been the grateful sight of Ducky standing over her worried, confirmation that she’d done her job; this time, she wanted the view to be a little different.

“I don’t want to hurt you…” protested Abby weakly, her movements allaying any final doubts an on-looking Ducky might have had about Abby being afraid to approach her battered, weak love as she leant carefully over the bed, black nail polish tipped fingers carefully tracing the lines of Kate’s face before warm lips gently touched Kate’s dry, chapped ones, causing both ladies to break into tentative smiles, “…you taste of medicine…” observed Abby inanely, licking her lips and picking up the taste of the ether Kate would have been breathing during her surgery.

Kate carefully touched her lips with her tongue.

“I taste of you…” she whispered, finally losing her battle with wakefulness, a gentle smile remaining on her lips as she returned to the comfort of unconsciousness, this time, with far better dreams….

* * *

 

 

“Ducky?” Unsurprisingly, it was Gibbs who noticed the re-emergence of the Medical Examiner.

“Who are all these people Jethro?” asked Ducky, ignoring the real question his old friend was asking, instead more interested in why there were suddenly twenty people standing around in the corridor.

“Secret Service.”

“Ah, friends of Kate…” Satisfied that they were former colleagues eager to come and learn how their fellow agent was doing, Ducky set off towards the elevator intent on finding some tea and perhaps a pastry.  Much to his confusion, four of the Secret Service types went with him.

“What’s going on?”

“You’ve got a detail Duck…”

“What? No, I don’t need….”

“They were shooting at you Ducky…” reminded Gibbs quietly, finishing his coffee and tossing it into the trash can that was a couple of yards away.

“They?”

“Until we know who was trying to shoot you Dr Mallard, your protective detail remains with you Sir,” explained the lead agent, a tall, solid looking man dressed in the ubiquitous dark suit and white shirt.

“But…” Just as he was about to start on a long and determined argument against needing protection, and protection provided by the President’s Detail no less, his words died on his lips as he remembered Abby…remembered her just now refusing to leave the sleeping Kate until she absolutely had to…remembered her coming to him in tears earlier in the week when she’d finally needed to share the fear she felt now she understood what ‘protective detail’ meant for her lover…remembered how he’d only noticed the shadows Kate was casting on the scene but never seen the bullet…remembered everything because he was still alive.

“Do you gentlemen drink coffee? I could bring a tray…”

“Hey Duck?”

“What is it Jethro?” he asked patiently, his progress (complete with escort) to the cafeteria interrupted.

“How is she?”

“Who?”

“Kate…” said Tony.  
“Abs…” said Gibbs, simultaneously.

“Resting...”

“So she’s ok?” asked Tony, his genuine concern penetrating his mask of nonchalance and charm.

“Caitlin will be fine Tony, the surgery was a success.”

“And Abby?” asked McGee, seeing that Gibbs had already moved to look through the glass door at the pair, Abby's head resting on the bed, her hand clasping Kate's paler one tightly.

“Is fine too...” confirmed Ducky.

“But what about Gibbs?” asked Tony, frowning.

“Rule number12, never date a co-worker?” guessed McGee, knowing where Tony was heading.

“Superseded by rule number 70...” said Ducky.

“Rule 70?”

“Never anger Abigail...”

“There are 70 rules?”

“37 actually.”

“So rule number 70 is number 70 because?”

“Because it's Abby's favourite number.”

“Weird number...”

“Exactly Agent Di Nozzo... most impressive.  Now, hadn't you better find out who shot Agent Todd?  Personally, I'm rather concerned about the idea that someone would wish to shoot at me...”

* * *

 

“You promised me you'd never break rule number 70 Kate...” Gibbs muttered, draining the end of his coffee, only to be interrupted by a firm tapping on the glass.

“Abs?” Gibbs had been so focussed on the hypnotic blips on the monitors surrounding Kate's bed he hadn't noticed Abby getting up and coming to stand right  in front of him.

“She didn't break rule number 70...” began Abby, rapidly signing at him, “...she saved Ducky but got shot...which is stupid, brave, crazy, incredible...” she continued frantically, only to be interrupted by Gibbs' firm head shake 'no' followed by him raising his hands and first stroking his chin with his right thumb before placing both hands on his shoulders and then drawing them away from his body so that his hands were clenched fists in front of his body.  He repeated this gesture several times, alternating it with a pointing gesture towards the bed.

“What's Gibbs doing?” asked Tony, watching his Boss's strange movements from where he stood with Tim and Ducky.

“Signing to Abby...” said Tim, able from his slightly different angle to see Abby through the glass.

“What's he saying?” asked Tony, curious.

“The truth...” concluded Ducky as his new Secret Service 'friends' settled into a protective crowd around him once more, reminding him how different things could have been.

“Which is?”

“That Kate's a hero...”

* * *

 

“Gibbs?”  signed Abby, the tears forming in her eyes once more as finally the last of her most recent adrenalin rush wore off and the enormity of the day settled on her.

“Yes?”

“I love her...”

“I know.”

“She loves me...”

“I know.”

There was a long pause in which nothing was said.

“Abs?”

“Yes Gibbs?”

“She's awake...”

“Oh...yay...bye!” came the energetic signing as Abby whirled around again and sprinted back to her lover's bedside...Gibbs had his rules and so did Abby: Rule Number 1 – Kate needed her and she needed Kate. 

It was the only rule that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 70 is the smallest 'Weird Number'.
> 
> No, I'm not joking,
> 
> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the story.


End file.
